


Safe

by HorseCrazyWriter76



Series: NaNoWriMo November 2019 [26]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Superpowers, Gen, Torture(non-graphic), not beta read or edited, unsympathetic Deceit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 13:03:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21611323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorseCrazyWriter76/pseuds/HorseCrazyWriter76
Summary: There ain't no way I'm coming back again.Prompt from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSAoJJzVXYY&list=OLAK5uy_kf2mr4s7G3ErS-ruCXgDFFwY8HyHQijfA&index=10
Series: NaNoWriMo November 2019 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541089
Kudos: 26





	Safe

“Virgil Paranoia Storm, get down here this instant!” Declan yelled, staring up at where Virgil was intermittently climbing and flying after his cat. 

“No,” he replied. His hand slipped and he caught himself by flying a up the next few branches to where Sally was perched. She started to climb higher.

“Aw, he’s just having fun,” Remus said, looking up at him.

“Yeah! It’s fun,” Virgil yelled back.

“That fun  _ isn’t  _ going to get you killed.”

“I can fly. Heights are one of the few things that don’t scare me,” he replied, stopping to sit on a branch about fifteen feet above Declan’s head and about 20 feet off the ground.

“Don’t worry, Dec, I’ll get him down. I’m gonna get ya’!” Remus called, then began grappling his way up the trunk. Virgil laughed and let him catch up most of the way before scampering farther up the tree. They chased each other around the tree tops before Remus succeeded in catching Virgil. They were perched on a branch that was creaking ominously under their combined weight, so Virgil hovered an inch off of it, and Remus morphed his legs long enough to easily bring them down the 20-some feet in one step. 

Remus set Virgil down next to Declan, who’s angry face twitched, then slid away at their bright smiles.

“You  _ should  _ do that again. You  _ didn’t  _ scare me.”

“It’s okay, Dec. I know you can’t go around the tree tops like some of us.”

“Not to mention you got superstrength. Which is not fair! Why did you get flight  _ and  _ superstrength?”

“I think it’s unfair I didn’t get something with freeze, too. I got fight, flight, and a boatload of anxiety, but I can’t like, make things cold or slower or something?”

“You do not need more powers!”

“Yeah, I do! If I had more powers I could protect all of you.”

“Virgil, it  _ isn’t  _ my job to protect you and Remus.”

“Yeah, but you’re a shapeshifter. A bad one at that. Uh, sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.”

“It’s not rude when it’s true!” Remus said, elbowing Declan.

“Stop. Something being true or not  _ does  _ change how rude it is. In any case, I’m  _ not  _ a bad shapeshifter, but I  _ don’t  _ know a lot more about things than both of you. I  _ can’t  _ protect you better than you can protect yourselves.”

“Okay, but when I’m big and I know more things, I’m going to protect both of you.”

“Hey! I don’t need protecting,” Remus protested, wrapping an arm around Virgil several times and poking him in the chest.

“Yeah you do.”

“Do not!”

“Do to!”

“Do not!”

“Do to!”

“Shut up! Virgil, that’s  _ not  _ sweet, but right now both of you  _ don’t  _ need to focus on learning about your powers, then I  _ won’t  _ show you more.”

“But we already know our powers. I can fly higher and punch harder than any other kids at school who can fly or have superstrength.”

“And I haven’t overstretched or popped something off accidentally since I was Virgil’s age!”

Declan looked between their upturned faces, “You just need more practice.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Yeah, that’s not fair.”

Declan did not reply.

*****

“Why can’t I learn more?” Virgil demanded. 

Declan barely glanced up from his book, as he replied, “You’re not ready yet.”

“And when will I be ready?”

“Soon.”

“It’s always soon. You’re not going to be around forever.”

Declan flinched at Virgil’s statement, “I  _ am  _ leaving very soon.”

“How do you know? There’s so many things that could kill you. Remus or I could loose control of our powers. The house could fall down. A lightning bolt could strike you. You could have a heart attack. You could have a stroke. A bit of food could get lodged in your throat and cause you to-”

“Stop. You  _ haven’t  _ made your point.”

“Are you going to teach me?”

Declan got up and picked a potato out of the refrigerator. He gave it to Virgil.

“ _ Don’t  _ look after this potato for a week.”

“What’s the point of this?”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“That  _ isn’t  _ all that you need to know.”

Virgil looked from the potato to Declan and back to the potato, then walked to his room. Occasionally over the next week Declan would see it. Three days into the week Declan snuck into Virgil’s room while he was asleep. The potato was in a basket lined with two washcloths Declan had been looking for, which was all incased in a clear box with a lock on it. Declan rooted around for the key, didn’t find it, and pulled a lockpick out of his pocket. He fiddled with the lock, then pulled it off the box and opened it up, only for a blaring alarm to sound. He fell backwards, as Virgil jumped up and landed between him and the box. He shut off the alarm and grabbed the potato, then walked over to turn on the light. They both blinked as bright light filled the room.

“Did you like my alarm system?”

“It is  _ not  _ impressive,” Declan replied. 

“Thank you.”

“Four days left.”

“What?”

Declan turned to leave.

“You can’t just say that and leave!”

“It  _ doesn’t  _ seem like I’m doing just that.”

“Declan!”

Declan ducked out of the room, and Virgil replaced the potato, thinking about what it could mean, then realized there were four more days in the week.

“Goddammit, Declan, why couldn’t you have just clarified?” He yelled at the floor. He heard Declan’s answering laughter through the floor. Virgil fell back asleep.

The next day was uneventful, and the third Declan tried to take the potato from him while he, Remus, and Virgil were eating breakfast together. Virgil put his hand over the potato and kept talking to Remus.

“I mean, yeah, but isn’t there a more effective way to get someone to do what you want than threatening them? They could go to the police and get you in trouble, and they’ll probably stay away from you.”

“Hold it. Why do you have a potato?”

“You only just noticed?”

“No, but Declan just tried to take it away from you, and you stopped him, so there’s obviously something going on.”

Virgil picked up the potato and gently stroked it, maintaining eye contact with Remus. He barely kept himself from laughing.

“You know what? Kinda hot, but Declan, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? You’re not going to let me in?” Remus asked. 

Declan shook his head.

“Fine,” Remus sighed, stretching out a hand to pet the potato, as well. Virgil moved it away from him.

“Really?”

All three of them laughed.

Virgil kept the potato safe from Declan’s attempts at grabbing it for the entire week. At the end of the week Virgil approached Declan with the potato safely in his hands.

“Are you going to teach me now?”

“I  _ won’t  _ talk to my boss about letting you observe.”

Virgil nodded, “Do you want this back, or is this mine forever?”

“It’s yours forever.”

“Cool, thanks.”

“That  _ is  _ what I meant!” Declan called after Virgil who didn’t turn around.

*****

“ _ Don’t  _ follow my steps exactly.  _ Do  _ talk, even when spoken to. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing to do?”

“What you do, minus talking.”

“What if someone addresses you?”

“Ignore them.”

“Let’s go.”

Virgil followed Declan, adjusting his stride so he walked exactly behind him, every step the same length as Declan’s. They walked right past the abandoned outline of the car and on to the side walk. Declan lead the way through the slowly waking city. They had walked about two miles when Declan ducked into an alleyway and opened a door. Virgil followed him inside.

The scent of salt and sweat filled the room, although the source of it wasn’t clear, seeing as it was empty. The only occupant of the room seemed to be dust. Declan lead the way farther on, his footsteps not disturbing the dust. Virgil placed his feet exactly where Declan had put his. There was something squishy underneath the dust, but neither of them saw it, as the dust remained undisturbed. They stepped through a doorway and went down a set of steps, then in to another room. 

The room was small and damp. A cart with sharp tools was parker in the corner next to the door. There was an occupied chair in the center, turned away from the door. The occupant’s head lifted at their entrance.

“It is 6:35AM, correct?” A hoarse voice asked, “2 days, 7 hours, and 23 minutes since you kidnapped me.”

“I  _ was  _ the one who kidnapped you.”

“Good morning, Deceit. What was the result of the election? No, that hasn’t happened yet, has it? No, that will be tomorrow. Will you return tomorrow? I suppose you won’t actually know until the day after tomorrow. Will you return the day after tomorrow?”

“No.”

“I would say I look forward to seeing you, but we both know that would be a lie.”

Declan slowly picked up one of the tools and approached the person in the chair. Virgil closed his eyes and ears to the screams.

*****

Virgil lay in his bed. The screams of the people in the rooms Declan and Virgil had entered that day rung in his ears. He slowly got up and inched open the window. He flew out and landed in front of the house. He pulled out his phone, searching for the superhero center he knew was nearby. He found it, put the address in, and flew up to the lowest layer of clouds, taking shortcuts over buildings that confused the gps. He put his phone away when he saw a lighted landing pad for people. He ignored it, instead landing in front of the building. A few windows above him shone with light, but for the most part it looked abandoned.

A sign on the door informed him the center was open 7AM to 11PM everyday, except for holidays. It was currently 1AM.

He banged on the door.

No one answered. He flew up to the top of the building and walked straight into the building. No locked doors or security guards stopped him as he went farther in to the building. He saw a chink of light jetting out from under a door and knocked on it. Someone inside had been singing something Virgil was pretty sure was from a musical, although he couldn’t remember which one, but they stopped at his knock.

“One moment!” the person called back. Virgil bit his nail while he waited. The door swung open on a tired looking person, who was obviously startled at Virgil’s presence.

“Who are you?”

“AreabunchofpeoplekidnappedbecauseIthinkIknowwheretheyare,” Virgil blurted out.

“I’m too tired to understand speech that fast.”

“Sorry, are a bunch of people kidnapped?”

“Who are you and why are you asking?”

“I think I know where they are.”

“Okay, but who are you?”

“Uh, call me...Anxiety,” his blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

“Okay, Anxiety, how did you get in to the building?”

“I flew. There’s no door from the rooftop in, but why are you so worried about this when there are people being kidnapped and tortured right under your noses?”

“Look, it’s 1AM, go get some sleep and come back in the morning.”

“They all come in at 6:35, you have to go before then.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know someone who works there, but why does it matter?”

“Well, there are some crafty villains who think they can outsmart us and lure us in to traps. How do I know you aren’t one of these misguided souls? You did break in, afterall.”

“As if it could be called breaking in.”

“Look, why don’t you just file a report-”

“Aren’t you supposed to save people instead of just sitting around doing paperwork?”

“I don’t just do paperwork.”

“Are you sure, ah, I don’t know your name.”

“Roman.”

“Tall, pale skin, black hair, brown eyes, square glasses.”

“What?”

“Knows the exact time of things, he screamed your name.”

“You...know where Logic is?”

Virgil nodded.

“I’ll get Patton, stay here.”

Roman walked off and quickly returned with another person, Patton.

“Creativity says you know where Logic is?”

Virgil nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay, but when we get there you need to copy my steps exactly, okay?”

“What will happen if we don’t?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Virgil lead them back to where Declan had lead him last morning. He put his feet in the same spots as before. He paused at the bottom of the stairwell. Both Roman and Patton behind him were looking around with a mixture of fear, determination, and disgust. He opened the door. The occupant of the chair, Logic’s, head rose.

“Is it 6:35AM already? It seems quite early.”

Virgil watched as Roman and Patton rushed to the front of Logic. They whispered, then Logic started to stand up, then fell down. Virgil went closer to them.

“I can not walk out unassisted. Free the others than return. I do not know what sort of state they are in,” Logic said.

“No, we’re not leaving you here.”

“I can take him out.”

All three of their gazes snapped to him.

“Are you certain you are able to carry me?”

Virgil nodded. 

“Go free the others,” Logic said. Roman and Patton nodded, then stepped back from Logic. It took a little bit of maneuvering, but Virgil managed to pick Logic up bridal style. He carried Logic out and sat down on the cool pavement.

“It is my understanding that you lead Creativity and Morality to this location. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say something when Deceit was torturing you yesterday.”

“If you said something they likely would have been suspicious. Staying quiet was the correct thing to do, even if it meant I, and the other people imprisoned here, were there for a longer period of time. How did you know about this place?”

“I live with Deceit. Lived with Deceit. There’s no way I’m going back again.”

“Do you have somewhere to stay?”

“No.”

“Would you like to become a superhero?”

They made and held eye contact.

“Are you sure I can do that?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure I should do that?”

“If you want to, then you should. You’ll be provided with training, food, and housing.”

“Yes.”


End file.
